The Worldwide trend of bilingual development and teaching English as second language

The article aims to make a glimpsed review on the worldwide trend of bilingual development which indicates that there are more second language speakers of English than native speakers and there are as many bilingual children as there are monolingual children.

60 Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 THE WORLDWIDE TREND OF BILINGUAL DEVELOPMENT AND TEACHING ENGLISH AS SECOND LANGUAGE HOANG THI TUYET Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam - tuyethoangus@yahoo.com (Received: June 30, 2017; Revised: August 03, 2017; Accepted: November 29, 2017) ABSTRACT English is in global existence of World Englishes, as a lingua franca; or an international language The article aims to make a glimpsed review on the worldwide trend of bilingual development which indicates that there are more second language speakers of English than native speakers and there are as many bilingual children as there are monolingual children In the light of this trend, a pedagogical paradigm shift in Asia-pacific region (from EFL teaching to ESL teaching) is identified in theory and practice Particularly, the article gives focus on the description of how teaching English as second language is assigned as national policies and implemented at school levels in some featured Asian countries such as Singapore, Philippines, China and Japan Hence, some implications are drawn for Vietnamese education context in which the fact that current teaching English as foreign language (EFL) would be gradually replaced by teaching English as second language (ESL) has been taken in the national agenda Keywords: Bilingual development; Pedagogical paradigm; Teaching English as foreign language; Teaching English as second language Introduction English has been the facto official working language of the group of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for years This position of English as the official language for globalized communication is more strengthened by the ASEAN Chapter signed in February 2009 by ten governments of The Association of Asian Nations English becomes more formalized with the signing of the Charter, Article 34 of which reads “The working language of ASEAN shall be English” From the educational perspective, Kirkpatrict (2012) addresses that the privileged position of English through ASEAN gives implications for two interrelated issues The first is the implications of the increasing roles of English within ASEAN for the teaching English The second is the implication of the increased teaching and learning of English for teaching, learning and maintenance of local languages, many of which are classified as endangered ones In this context, there has been a radical shift in teaching English at pedagogical and administrative levels for English learners to attain the target of executive competence of English in the changing global world Specifically, in English spoken countries such as the UK and Ireland or Australia, the term English as second language (SL) has been replaced by English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) Whereas, in non-English speaking countries, the term English as foreign language has been criticized By redefining the notion of teaching English as second language, teaching foreign language has been replaced gradually by English as second or international language In Vietnam, recently, the need for cooperation with and learning from nations which have been successful in teaching English as second language is asserted by the Minister of Education and Training, Phung Xuan Nha This is seen as a practical solution for helping Vietnamese young generations to gain English competence to be able to integrate themselves into the global economy and society This article aims to make a quick review on the worldwide trend of bilingual Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 development In the light of this trend, the shift from EFL teaching to ESL teaching is identified in theory and practice as a pedagogical paradigm shift in Asia-pacific region Particularly, the article gives focus on the description of how teaching English as second language is assigned as national policies and implemented at school levels in some featured Asian countries such as Singapore, Philippines, China and Japan Emphasis that is central to this representation is the language provision for the majority group or additive bilingual education which is investigated in terms of (1) policy, curriculum and ideological; orientations; (2) models and approaches; (3) practices and their underpinning principles Hence, some implications are drawn for Vietnamese education context in which the fact that teaching English as foreign language (EFL) would be gradually replaced by teaching English as second language (ESL) has been taken in the national agenda The worldwide trend of bilingual development According to Paradis et al (2011), the trend that there are many bilingual children as there are monolingual children has been recognized worldwide This means that increasingly many children are being raised as bilinguals At the policy levels of bilingual education provisions, there has been a clear distinction made between the two parallel conceptions of bilingualism for minority and majority national groups or “two types of language provisions” or two types of bilingual education These two concepts differ in terms of aims and practices: one aims to transition to the mainstream education system to develop balanced bilinguals who identify with both minority and majority groups and the other is added to students’ knowledge repertoire linguistic competence in a foreign language (Feng, 2005) The term “additive bilingual teaching” is used to refer to language 61 provision for the majority group indicating that there will be no displacement of learners’ mother tongue and culture, and ‘transitional bilingual education” for minority national groups to spell out an educational process that aims for developing ethnic and more importantly national identity (Wang, 2003) At the individual levels of the bilingual development, the acquisition of two languages can take place in one of two ways The first way is termed as simultaneous acquisition which occurs when a child is raised from birth, or when the second language is introduced before the age of three (Paradis et al., 2011) According Meisel (2004), Genesee (2009) and Genesee and Nicoladis (2006), children learning two languages simultaneously go through the same developmental stages as children learning one language Although talking of bilingual children may start slightly later than that of monolingual children, their language development begins within the normal range The second way is termed as sequential acquisition which occurs when a second language is introduced after the first language is well-established, generally after the age of three (Paradis et al., 2011) This type of sequential bilingualism may occur in two cases The first case is when children who use their home language learn a different language spoken in the country to which they migrate The second case is when children exclusively speaks his heritage language at home until they begin school, where instruction is offered for a different language (Paradis et al., 2011) Despite the fact that they are distinct types of bilingualism, sequential and simultaneous, Fend (2007) posits that behind the differences with regard to terminology, aims and approaches, there are common sociocultural, political and pedagogical factors that characterize all forms of bilingual education Furthermore, bilinguals share common benefits from acquisition of the two languages In general, learning languages 62 Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 brings in many social, psychological and lifestyle advantages to bilinguals It helps increase concentration, listening ability, memory, creativity and critical thinking - all of which are thinking processes and world vision that increase learning in general It exposes learners to other ways of looking at the world All these cognitive skills have an impact on the brain's executive control system, which generally takes care of activities like high-level thought, multitasking, and sustained attention Bilingual and Dual Language programs promote bilingualism and biliteracy, gradelevel academic achievement and cross-cultural competence in all students Students maintain their native language while adding another language, and they develop pride in their own culture while developing an understanding of others Furthermore, a swathe of health benefits from speaking more than one language, including faster stroke recovery and delayed onset of dementia is found by researchers The worldwide trend of bilingualism above is also identified in the development of World Englishes and English as “a lingua franca”; or “an international language” as Wen (2012) asserts to be used along with the development of globalization In fact, Kingsley (2012), Low and Hashim (2012) posit that there has been a widely shifting trend from the international English to “World Englishes” for three decades The term “World Englishes” is used to refer to localized forms of English throughout the world, particularly in Caribbean and parts of Africa, and in many societies in Asia Prior 1980s, there was a worldwide discussion on the distinction between native speakers and nonnative speakers, English as foreign and as second language and English as international language However, the fact that notion of world Englishes is widely recognized indicates English is no longer a possession of the British or American It becomes an international language with an increasingly large number of different varieties World Englishes itself subsumes many different approaches to the study of English worldwide: diverse varieties in different societies where English is spoken as a second or foreign language: corpus linguistics, sociology of language, discourse and genre, critical linguistics…Therefore, a recently emergent approach to English as a “lingua franca” is proving popular in the world With this notion, English is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different; between native speakers and non-native speakers, but also, more often than not, among non-native speakers such as Koreans and Vietnamese (Lee McKay, 2003) A pedagogical paradigm shift for English language teaching in Asia-pacific region: from EFL teaching to ESL teaching 3.1 From imposition to accommodation of the teaching paradigm of native-speaker norms developed in Western countries In reference to the spread recognition of ‘world Englishes”, Wang and Hill’s review (2011) indicate a paradigm shift for English language teaching in Asia from imposition to accommodation of the paradigm of teaching developed in Western countries with nativespeaker norms These authors posit that English language teaching (ELT) professionals in Asia have embraced the paradigm of teaching originated in Western countries for decades However, the notion of a standardized English has been into question due to the fact that the varieties as well as the uses of English differ from place to place Furthermore, language teaching is seen clearly to be affected by a host of factors ranging from the macro political and cultural environments of a country or region to the micro perceptions and practices of individual learners and teachers which calls for different methodologies for different learners or learning situations Therefore, Wang and Hill Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 (2011) assume that Asian countries need to take a more realistic look at “what” is being taught and learned, “where” the teaching and learning is taking place, and “who” is involved in the teaching and learning English In this argumentation, Wang and Hill develop a common framework for teaching English in Asia where the language increasingly serves as a ‘lingua franca’ between various countries in domains such as government, education, and business Within this framework, Wang and Hill note that the norms of the language should be adapted rather than adopted as before ELT programs in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts have to consider issues concerning the elusive nature of native speaker norms; problems concerning the attainability as well as the desirability of native speaker norm; problems concerning the desirability of the native speaker proficiency; the rising status of the local varieties of English; differences in the use of English, in content of learning; differences in the traditions of teaching and learning and different roles of teachers and learners They conceive that given the growing importance of Asia in international affairs, such particular use of English merits special attention in curriculum development and teacher preparation because according to Beittel (2006, p.87), “the globalization and differentiation of English are two sides of the same coin” (recite from Wang and Hill, 2011) They believe that once the paradigm shift is made from the English as a native language (ENL) model to the English as a lingua franca (ELF) model, as McKay (2003) articulates, the need for learning the target language culture becomes less important On the contrary, there is a need to develop learners’ competence in communicating local values and traditions to the people of other cultures, whether they are from English or non-English speaking countries (recite from Wang and Hill, 2011) To sum up, by taking a close look at all the local features that affect the choice 63 of the varieties of English to be learned, the content of learning and the approaches to teaching and learning in the Asian context, Wang and Hill (2011) reveal limitations in the established theories responsive not only to indigenous traditions of language learning but also to the increasing use of English as a language of contact between non-native speakers across national boundaries while at the same time continuing to welcome the theories and practices of English language teaching from outside the region 3.2 From foreign language teaching to second language teaching In response to Wang and Hill’s consideration of the adaptation of Western countries’ the notion of a standard English or native speaker norms into teaching English in a particularly cultural context of Asia, by rethinking about the notional distinction between English as second and as foreign language, Longcope (2010) reveals limitations in the established conceptions that are responsive only to outer environment, but not to inner environment such as teaching methodologies for learners or learning situations in particular contexts In fact, the distinction between Second-Language Acquisition and Foreign-Language Learning has been traditionally seen as a simple recognition of learning environment in which learners live in a predominantly Englishspeaking places or not and then consciously learn or naturally acquire English within these types of English environment That is, this is a perceived difference between learning English in second language context and learning English in a foreign language context Longcope (2010) argues that the term “context” should be understood to refer not simply to the environment in which learners are situated at a given time but also to refer to the learner’s relationship to the environment In other words, there have been two different ways to investigate context in researching its effects on English language teaching: one is to 64 Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 look at the amount of L2 contact or interaction, and the other is to look at conditions available for L2 learning The core idea here is that there is something along the lines of it being an equal language, and essential as a full means of communication and study, but additional to students’ native language In teaching practice, there is not necessarily any difference whatsoever in how or what pedagogy teachers would go about teaching it, because basically it's teaching the same thing but with a different focus, because the students’ needs are different This is true with any class Teachers have to figure out what their students need and what's going on with them, and teach accordingly Therefore, from pedagogical perspective, teaching second language or foreign language is all as teaching 'English for Speakers of Other Languages' - ESOL From hence, Longcope (2010) suggests that both physical and pedagogical contexts should be considered so that these conditions can be provided more effectively in the so-called EFL classrooms Similar to Longcope, Ringbom (1979) asserts that in addition to the consideration of the individual's internal processes of learning English and the degree of consciousness brought to the learning task, more specific situational distinctions are based on a variety of factors These are the time spent on language learning, the quality and structure of the input, the teacher's role, learners’ age and native language background, the learning processes and communicative strategies used Moreover, critical review on the word “foreign” in the term ‘Teaching English as foreign language has been documented widely “Foreign” has largely negative connotations, strongly associated with concepts such as “alienness,” “unfamiliarity,” and “strangeness,” with an additional associative meaning of “not belonging” Particularly, a key assumption traditionally underlying the EFL label is the notion that English is “simply” a subject in the school curriculum, but usually not a medium of education Furthermore, in “EFL” contexts, there is very limited use of English outside the formal classroom setting.” (Widdowson 1994, 2003; Deway, 2010) In regard to teaching English, Jacobs & Farrell (2001) indicate eight changes that fit with the paradigm shift in second language education toward what is most often described as communicative language teaching These eight changes are: learner autonomy, cooperative learning, curricular integration, focus on meaning, diversity, thinking skills, alternative assessment and teachers as colearners The paradigm shift of which these changes are part is put into perspective as an element of larger shifts from positivism to post-positivism and from behaviorism to cognitivism 3.3 From Language Immersion Education to Content and Language Integrated Learning A popular model of teaching English is recognized as “language immersion education” which was used firstly in places where the learners’ second language as English is the medium of classroom instruction (such as in Canada in 1960), then it has spread to places where the learners’ first language is the medium of classroom instruction and English is a foreign language (such as in Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam) Immersion English education is rooted in the human philosophy that being proficient in more than one language is a valuable skill to be cultivated and nurtured in communities This ideology corresponds to bilingual education as dual language programs in which two languages are used for academic purposes Therefore, the main purpose of this model is to foster bilingualism, in other words, to develop learners' communicative competence or language proficiency in their first and in addition to second language Twoway immersion, one type of dual language education, is recognized as an effective Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 approach to developing language proficiency and literacy in English and partner language It integrates native speakers of English speakers and native speakers of another language for academic content instruction through both English and partner language at the beginning in elementary schools Any English teaching model is always affected by a host of factors ranging from the macro level such as educational policies, cultural environments, social expectations or public opinions of a country or region to micro level such as perceptions and practices of individual schools, learners, teachers and parents Therefore, immersion programs vary from one country or region to another It can be seen in practice that immersion English programs take on different formats based on: - class time spent in second language: complete immersion; partial immersion; contentbased foreign languages in elementary schools; FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools) programs, 5–15% of class time is spent in the foreign language and time is spent learning language itself; and FLEX (Foreign Language Experience) programs, class is always in the first language, only one to five percent of class time is spent sampling each of one or more languages and/or learning about language non-continuously - participation by native speaking (L1) students: submersion and two-way immersion (class time is split in half and taught in the major and target languages) - learner age: early immersion from age or 6, middle immersion from age or 10, late immersion from age 11 or 15 and adult immersion from 17 or older - school subjects taught in L2 - the L2 itself as an additional and separate subject (Adapted from California Office of Bilingual Bicultural Education, 1984; Shapson and Mellen Day, 1996; Swain and Johnson, 1997; Lindholm-Leary 2001; Chen, 65 2006) Language immersion education can be noted to be closely related to content-based instruction (CBI), or content and language integrated learning (CLIL) In fact, Snow (2001) presents a typology of content-based models that includes immersion education including complete and partial immersion, theme-based instruction, sheltered content instruction, and adjunct instruction Wei (2013) asserts that a number of misleading viewpoints arising from English-medium academic publications concerning bilingual education (BE) in China which involves using a foreign language (usually English) to teach part of the subject matter of non-language subject(s) This misleading view is to use the term “immersion” for the most widely used Chinese-English BE model Wan affirms that Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as more accurate label for the most widely used Chinese-English Bilingual Education model He proposes future research, such as identifying good practices of CLIL as driving forces behind the bilingual education in China Furthermore, Vyas and Patel (2015) suggest a new pedagogy for teaching English as a second language in a new century is making language teaching relevant for the digital age and particularly adapting content-based instruction Historically, the term content-based instruction (CBI), or content and language integrated learning (CLIL) as it is known in Europe, refers to a variety of instructional models in which academic subject matter is taught in a second or foreign language, such students learn academic content and language skills simultaneously, meaning the integration of content and language learning (Widdowson, 1978) Content-based instruction is based on the rationale that "people learn a second language more successfully when they use the language as a means of acquiring information, rather than as an end in itself" (Richards and Rodgers, 2001, p.207) CBI has developed as 66 Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 a pedagogical anchor to language education and has opened opportunities for integration of interdisciplinary collaborative approaches for language teaching and learning The CBI approach is comparable to English for Specific Purposes (ESP), which is usually for vocational or occupational needs or English for Academic Purposes (EAP) The goal of CBI is to prepare students to acquire the languages while using the context of any subject matter so that students learn the language by using it within the specific context of an academic subject (Brinton, 2003) Methodologically, content - based instruction refers to an approach to second language acquisition that emphasizes the importance of content in contrast to other approaches or methods such as communicative language teaching which are centered on the language itself In contentbased teaching, language skills are mostly developed unconsciously through the content dealt with (Richards and Rodgers 2001: 204-205) The challenge of content - based instruction (CBI) is how language teaching can be adapted in order to instruct content and language objectives in a balanced way It demands that teachers work as researchers who are capable of teaching language and content, keeping a balance between two of them The world has witnessed the diversity of CBI paradigms that are prevalent in primary and secondary schools and collaborative partnerships that have emerged within and across institutions and disciplines (Richards and Rodgers 2001; Brinton, 2003) According to Stryker and Leaver (1997), in general, content-based instruction has been implemented more widely in ESL programs than it has in traditional foreign language programs at least in the United States Stryker and Leaver insist that although contemporary foreign language textbooks contain units based on themes, these themes tend to be subordinated to linguistic content (Stryker and Leaver, 1997) However, Cammarata’s study (2009) found that a group of foreign language teachers in the U.S viewed CBI as an "idealistic" model that they would have difficulty implementing in a traditional classroom setting In practice, there has been an increased interest in it over the last ten years, particularly in the USA and Canada where it has proven very effective in ESL immersion programs This interest has now spread to EFL classrooms around the world where teachers are discovering that their students like CBI and are excited to learn English this way How teaching English as second language is assigned as national policies and implemented at school levels in some featured Asian countries? Singapore Being as an Asian country with Englishmedium national education systems, Singapore reflects the effective adaptation of complete English immersion model and content-based English teaching which is underpinned by the highly centralized language planning by Singaporean government to solve the problematic language diversity in Singapore Under the multilingual policy stated in the Republic of Singapore Independence Act of 1965 which decreed that Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English would be the four official languages of Singapore, English was accorded the status of an official language as it is the language of technology and economic development A necessity for its utility in science and technology essential to economic development from the early years of Singapore’s s independence has driven the public defense of English use nationwide The Ministry of Education (MOE) places heavy emphasis on English, believing that "mastery of English is vital to Singapore's pupils" because English is "the language of administration, education, commerce, science, technology, and global communication" English skills are assessed through written Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 examinations, oral examinations and listening comprehension in grammatically correct English tailored to purpose, audience and context Hence, at this level English in academic subjects, students are expected to formulate analysis and arguments about current issues and show critical thinking (Patrick, 2011) However, the unbridled dominance of English as an official and administrative language has been a cause of concern for the nation It is the deculturalization in Singapore caused from that teaching, learning and maintenance of local languages have failed in danger due to increased teaching and learning of English This negative outcome has been adjusted by the English-knowing bilingual policy in which the Singaporean government clearly differentiates the relationship between English and the mother tongue by assigning English and the mother tongues to different domains Such pragmatic linguistic language planning policy has enabled Singapore to remain modern and competitive in the world through English but, at the same time, maintain an Asian identity with the acquisition of the mother tongue Particularly, the multiracial discourse in the “Asianizing of Singapore” is to ensure that Singapore remains a cohesive nation with three homogenous ethnic communities coexisting in equilibrium with each other (Patrick, 2011) Philippines The model of bilingual education in Philippines is characterized by school subjects taught in English (L2) and Filipino (L1) The promulgation and implementation of Bilingual Education policy in 1974, bilingual education in the Philippines is defined operationally as the separate use of Filipino and English as the media of instruction in specific subject areas Filipino is used as medium of instruction in social studies/social sciences, music, arts, physical education, home economics, practical arts and character education English, on the other hand, is 67 allocated to science, mathematics and technology subjects The policy on Bilingual Education aims at the achievement of competence in both Filipino and English at the national level, through the teaching of both languages and their use as media of instruction at all levels The regional languages are used as auxiliary languages in Grades I and II A profile of the Filipino bilingual is in terms of identity, sociolinguistic competence including language use, attitudes, motivations and proficiency with multicultural and multilinguistic settings (Yanagihara, 2007) Malaysia Relatively similar to Philippines’s bilingual education model, in Malaysia, English is used for science and maths, with more culturally - or socially - orientated subjects taught in the national languages However, the debate over English medium of instruction has occurred with arguments having not only economic, social and political dimensions but also pedagogical dimensions Malaysia recently decided to go back to teaching all disciplines in Malay According to Kaur’s assumption (2012), this problematic situation of bilingual education in Malaysia basically lies in the Malaysian government trying to have one common language policy for the whole country, when the circumstances of each area and even each family differ so much China Feng (2007) indicates that there is a large bank of literature on the history of bilingualism, bilingual educational practices, policies and research projects, particularly in the last three decades when China has opened up to the world However, the concepts of bilingualism and bilingual education in China have had a long association with minority group bilingual education Foreign language education in China was traditionally taken as an area in applied linguistics It has rarely referred to bilingual education or has a little to with bilingualism However, teaching 68 Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 English as a foreign language has been increasingly perceived by Chinese policy makers and other stakeholders as crucial for the economic development of the country and individual advancement in the society for the last two decades English, and Mandarin Chinese are used as the languages for teaching school subjects in major metropolitan areas, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and special economic zones, such as Shenzhen In Guandong Province, for instance, 200 state schools have been teaching certain subjects in English since 2003 English-medium instruction is expanding particularly fast in the private sector Such Chinese–English bilingual education developed in a large scale at school levels as well as tertiary ones is resulted from catalytic factors such as China’s ‘open-door’ policy, its successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games in 2001 and membership of the World Trade Organization in the same year Hu (2007) presents the promotion of bilingual education in China as a major educational reform initiative, at the same time, criticizes the Chinese–English bilingual education as ‘craze’ sweeping across major economic centers in China From Bourdieu’s sociological theory, Hu warns consequences of this bilingual education in China in terms of policy goals as well as curricular implementation to be able to decrease efficacy in learning and detriment to the development of cultural identity in learners and national coherence Feng and Wang’s work (2007) indicates the model of recent Chinese–English bilingual education It is called Integrated English (IE), which is developed to suit the context of welldeveloped regions in China According to these authors, IE is in principle an approach that bears a resemblance to a content-based language learning models However, IE differs slightly from the content-based language learning in that is more languagedriven with less pressure on mastery of content on the part of the students The IE model in Chinese–English bilingual education is characterized by six beliefs in bilingual education: starting to offer English to pupils at an early age; teaching totally in English; focusing on listening and speaking skills first; developing strategies to help pupils acquire English naturally; developing pupils’ overall abilities and integrating content learning with language learning Such Integrated English model appears to have been effective in developing pupils’ bilingual competence in English and Chinese In addition to adaptation of integrated teaching, Zhang and Adamson (2007) assert that to produce a bilingual workforce, task-based language teaching was adopted in the national English curriculum in 2001 in an attempt to replace the teacherdominated, knowledge-transmitting and grammar-based methods prevailing in primary English language teaching Japan Japan is seen as a top well-developed nation but not having many Japanese with English proficiency Hagerman (2009) argues that the point that rendered English language education in Japan less effective has been a historical and continuing disparity between official goals and implementation This author also criticizes pursuit for national economic goals rather than any individual advancement of English education policies in Japan for the past decades However, in 2003, by “The Action plan to cultivate Japanese with English abilities” designed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in March 2003, Japanese government established a system for promoting English education English immersion classes implemented in this plan seem to be quite a complex combination of different formats of immersion language teaching: partial immersion; content-based foreign languages in elementary schools; and foreign language experience programs… Specifically, at primary levels, English is not Hoang Thi Tuyet Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 required Rather, elementary students take foreign language conversation classes as part of global studies of “Period for Integrated Study” with the purpose to foster students’ positive attitude to English Whereas, foreign language is compulsory subject at the junior and high school levels, students must attend English classes for fifty minutes, three times a week in 2003 & four times a week in 2011 Discontent with the Action Plan 2003, Basic Plan for the Promotion of Education published in July 2008 to stipulate foreign language education was launched This action plan defines the English language abilities required for Japanese people as follows by education stages At junior high school, average graduates should have basic communication skills; average high school graduates should be able to participate in normal communication with regard to topics relating to daily life; and, finally, average university graduates should be able to use English at a professional level in their work For the purpose of fostering innovative English education, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has designated the Super English Language High school, developed new curriculum focusing on English education At this time, around 50 high schools are so designated to create distinctive methods such as a comprehensive and cross-curriculum teaching method for developing selfexpression primarily by speaking and writing These schools also promote English education for cultivating scientific logical mind and advanced communication abilities Regarding English instructors, there are two system of teaching licensing The first is assigned by the type of school (primary, junior high school, high school) and by subject (except primary school).This license type is required for teaching in any public/private primary school, junior high school and high school nationwide The special license system is awarded to persons with excellent 69 knowledge, experience and skill, enables teachers to teach in an international school In many schools, native speakers who are called “Assistant Language Teacher (ALT)” work with Japanese teacher in a team to teach an English class More and more young Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) come to schools across the countries through The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET) Recently, over the past couple of years, the government has been directing to consider reforms that would help Japanese students prepare for and complete better in a globalized world Three action plans are proposed in rigorous consideration: 1) Moving the starting grade for compulsory English-language education to the third grade from where it is now – the fifth grade – by 2020 According to the Japanese government documents, this move would force the government to considerably boost the number and quality of English teachers and native-language assistant teachers at more than 22,000 six-year elementary schools with 7.1 million children across the country 2) Promoting more English immersion Education Programs by expanding the number of schools that offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma to 200 over the next five years This is being considered as part of the plan to promote more English immersion Education Programs for internationalizing Japanese education The IB diploma – available in secondary schools across the world to varying degrees It is recognized as “an academically challenging and balanced program of education Its final examinations prepare students, aged 16 to 19, for success at university and life beyond Also crucial to the IB diploma’s spread in Japan would be Japanese universities considering it valid proof of eligibility for students to be accepted It is noted as something that is far from universal as it stands today 3) Introducing a new university entrance exam system by renovating University 114 Bui N B Khue & Ho N Quang Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 112-128 Table Job Satisfaction Factors (Herzberg, 1976) Factors Leading to Dissatisfaction (Hygiene) Factors Leading to Satisfaction ( Motivation)  Company Policy  Achievement  Supervision  Recognition  Relationship with Boss  Work Itself  Work Conditions  Responsibility  Salary  Advancement  Relationship with Peers  Growth 2.2 Training Mincer (1962) simply explained training is an investment in procurement skills to improve employee’s productivity According to the Edwin (1987), “Training is the act of increasing knowledge and skills of an employee for doing a particular job.” The paper of Turkyilmaz et al (2011) revealed that training and personal development significantly affect employee satisfaction of 220 employees in Istanbul Branch of Social Security Department Linking it to this business human resource context, when firms invest in their human resources in the form of training, employees are pleased to receive the knowledge and more willing to commit to the firms There are various types of training such as on-the-job training, vocational training, general and specific training, depending on each context, HRM decides an appropriate type for employees (Hassan, 2013) According to Kulkarn (2013), the essential object of training is to provide the availability of skilled and well-trained employees who are ready to contribute to the organizations A successful training session requires many steps of preparation and evaluation due to its effect on organization’s operation and budget Hence, this research proposes the positive impact between Training and Employee Job Satisfaction 2.3 Working Environment Kohun (1992) defined Working environment is the set of forces, actions and other influential factors impacting on the employee’s activities and performance Opperman (2002), Yusuf & Metiboba (2012) defined working environment which consists of three components technical environment, the human environment and the organizational environment in which technical Environment is infrastructure and physical, technical factor at the workplace Human environment is the interrelationship among people, leadership and management and it can affect worker’s morale (Clement, 2000; Stanley, 2003) Organization environment is mediated task, national environment (inputs) and process into final products or service (output) (Akintayo, 2012) Yusuf & Metiboba (2012) also claimed that employee behavior such as absenteeism, low commitment, and apathy are related to working environment Brill, Weidemann, Olsen, Keable & Bosti (2001) revealed that the design of workspace has a huge effect on employee commitment and satisfaction Wells & Thellen (2002) and Croasmun (2004) suggested the working environment which has enough privacy, quietude and suitable facility for old employees inspires people with motivation and satisfaction whereby contributes to employee commitment As a Bui N B Khue & Ho N Quang Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 112-128 115 result, the next hypothesis is working environment positively affects Employee Job Satisfaction 2.4 Leadership There are many definitions of leadership; however, in general, there is no unified consensus and this is just the influence of one person which leads to the actions or attitude of other (Wakabi, 2013) According to Okumbe (1998), leadership is the process encouraging people to something by their willingness, not because they are afraid of suffering the consequences or discipline Mat (2008) confirmed that people follow leader’s acts and behaviors to achieve organization’s goals Dawley, Andrews, and Bucklew (2010) studied the influence of perceived organizational support, supervisor support and job fit on employees’ turnover intention of organizations The paper showed that the perceived organizational support, supervisor support and job fit significantly impact employee satisfaction and that resulted in the high commitment The recommended hypothesis is the positive effect of Leadership and Employee Job Satisfaction 2.5 Pay Obviously, people are looking for jobs because of not only their passion but also money The most important reason for working is that people need money to pay everything for their lives and support their families In addition, it is one of reward tools to help employees feel more positive at work because employees perceive their efforts to be recognized worthily (Silbert, 2005) Likewise, Gardner et al., (2004) mentioned pay as a motivator and technique of employee commitment, Milkovich and Newman (2004) expressed that among many types of rewards, monetary pay is one of the most important factors affecting satisfaction Base pay and contingent pay are two main elements of pay whereas base pay is accounted for the largest part of total reward package for most employees (Green, 2010) There are many different results conducted by earlier researchers about the relationship between pay and job satisfaction, some studies found the positive correlation (Beutell & WittigBerman, 1999; Sanchez & Brock, 1996), weak relationship (Dunham & Hawk, 1977 and Adams & Beehr, 1998) Judge (2010) did a meta-analysis of the literature between pay and job satisfaction In general, pay level is only marginally related to satisfaction The reason that leads to the different results may come from people’s psychologies and characteristics, for instance, Malka and Chatman (2003) suggested that people with more extrinsic value orientations tightly link the level of satisfaction to the level of income A lot of researchers found the positive relationship between pay and job satisfaction because pay is seen as the critical reason that causes overall satisfaction (Smith, Kendall, & Hulin, 1969; Hulin, 1991; Heneman & Judge, 2000) Thus, Pay has the positive relationship with Employee Job Satisfaction Based on the literature review of much empirical research, the model contains popular variables that frequently appear in previous studies The conceptual model is adapted from Herzberg two-factor theory Job satisfaction will enhance if the employees can access to nice workplace training, environment, leadership styles and reward (Chen, 2006; Payne, 2005; Mohammad & Hossein, 2006) The hypotheses for this research are summarized as following: H1: Training positively affects Employee Job Satisfaction H2: Working Environment positively affects Employee Job Satisfaction H3: Leadership positively affects Employee Job Satisfaction H4: Pay positively affects Employee Job Satisfaction H5: There is a positive relationship between Job Satisfaction and Employee Commitment 116 Bui N B Khue & Ho N Quang Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 112-128 Independent Variables Training H1 Dependent Variable Mediating Variable Working Environment Leadership H2 H3 Job Satisfaction H5 Employee Commitment H4 Pay Figure Proposed Conceptual Framework Source: Alshanbri et al (2015) and Herzberg (1976) Research methodology This research uses the quantitative approach to obtain the purpose of the study The quantitative research tries to gather data by objective methods and provides information about relations, comparisons, and predictions and removes the investigator from the investigation (Smith, 1983) In this case, the AMOS technique is mainly run to analyze the data, information that got from survey with initial support from SPSS so that the study has the most accurate result The survey is continually chosen as the main method with questionnaire tool to collect primary data The questionnaires were directly sent to 422 people who are classified as the office workers in Ho Chi Minh City, spreading from under 20 to over 46 years old The questionnaire is synthesized based on the previous study such as Koikai (2014), Msengeti (2015) and Achieng’Nyaura (2016), so that the measurement scale presents a high reliability The questionnaire is divided into two sections: Demographic details and Perceived Relationship among the factors Each factor includes five measurement statements using Likert scale which spreading from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree Results and discussion 4.1 Sample Demographics The data collected by online and offline surveys to achieve 422 responses from the office staffs in Ho Chi Minh City in 2017 However, after eliminating the unqualified responses, 395 qualified questionnaires are used to analyze the data result The number of Female respondents is 68.61% which is double the number of Male and the dominant range is from 20-30 years old (69.62%) 4.2 The Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Test This research uses the Cronbach's Alpha reliability test before analyzing the EFA to exclude inappropriate variables because they can produce dummy factors Acceptable values of alpha have a range from 0.70 to 0.95 (Nunnally, 1994; Bland, 1997; DeVellis, 2013) If the value is less than 0.6, the number of item in the questionnaire is low or the measurement questions are not inter-related to each other Moreover, it is impossible to get the value greater than 0.9 This value indicates that the items are redundant and duplicate; the survey consists of many same questions but different Bui N B Khue & Ho N Quang Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 112-128 117 Table Cronbach’s Alpha Results ways of expressing (McClelland, 1980) Number or Items Cronbach's Alpha Training 898 Pay 788 Working Environment 829 Leadership 855 Job Satisfaction 769 Employee Commitment 858 The Cronbach’s Alpha for all variables range from 769 to 898 depicts the moderate consistency among internal items Especially Training has Cronbach’s Alpha value.898 illustrates that all items measuring training are reliable and consistent Because the results satisfy the requirements for Reliability test thus there is no variable to be eliminated and the measurement scales are appropriate for EFA analysis 4.3 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) After running Cronbach’s Alpha test, the second assessment to test the validity of all variables is EFA This method evaluates two important values of the scale: Converging Table Factor Analysis – Independent variables Train4 871 Train3 862 rain2 846 Train5 811 Train1 612 Env2 794 Env5 754 Env1 719 Env4 661 value and distinctive value EFA helps to rearrange the scale into multiple sets The variables belonging to the same set will measure the same concept It is based on the correlation between variables (interrelationships) Promax rotation and Principal axis factoring are chosen to run EFA test for independent variables and Principal Component is applied for mediator and dependent variables As the adjusted outcome of EFA and Reliability test, there are 18 items belonging to groups of components The final EFA result is reached at the third time after deleting unqualified measurement scales PAY4, PAY5 118 Bui N B Khue & Ho N Quang Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 112-128 Env3 589 Lead4 798 Lead5 751 Lead3 720 Lead1 650 Lead2 517 Pay3 912 Pay1 569 Pay2 488 This is the final EFA result for independent variables; all component variables are regrouped into the same set of measurement Both mediating and dependent variables are also grouped perfectly in EFA test In the meantime, KMO and Barlett’s Test is conducted in table in order to present the appropriateness of factor analysis with actual data Table KMO and Barlett’s Test Independent Variables Mediating Variable Dependent Variable KMO index 889 753 833 Sig .000 000 000 Cumulative % 55.622 52.964 64.660 KMO value of independent variables is 889, Bartlett's Test of Sphericity is significant with p-value 000 (0.5), so does the AVE excepting the AVE value of Satisfaction and Pay which are less than 0.5 However, they are still acceptable because the large value of CR then model obtains synthesis reliability Table Composite Reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) Variables CR value AVE value Train 0.90 0.65 Environment 0.83 0.50 Leadership 0.85 0.54 Pay 0.70 0.44 Employee Job Satisfaction 0.78 0.43 0.86 0.63 Employee Commitment 4.5 Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) SEM is one of the most complex and flexible techniques SEM model combines all the techniques such as multivariate regression, factor analysis, and mutual relationship analysis (among elements in a network diagram) to allow us to examine the complex relationship Because the complication of SEM model, many researchers visualized it by path diagram to represent the clear interrelationship among factors (Hair et al., 2006) 122 Bui N B Khue & Ho N Quang Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 112-128 Table Standardized Regression Weights (SEM) Estimate Satis < Train 099 Satis < Env 328 Satis < Lead 358 Satis < Pay 280 Commit < Satis 749 The table shows the Estimate value in Standardized Regression Weights are all positive number at significant level p-value 0.05 Leadership has highest estimate value, accounting for 35.8% the variance of Job Satisfaction whereas the mediator Satisfaction interprets up to 74.9% the variance of Employee Commitment The outcome shows the relationships between independent variables Training, Working Environment, Leadership and Pay to mediator Satisfaction which are significant with p-value < 0.05 And the effect of Satisfaction on dependent variable Commitment is supported by significant pvalue; thus none of these variables are removed from the conceptual model Table 10 Summary of Hypotheses Testing Standardized P-value (level of Conclusion Regression Weight significance 0.05) No Hypothesis H1: Training positively affects Employee Job Satisfaction 099 032 Supported H2: Working Environment positively affects Employee Job Satisfaction 328 000 Supported H3: Leadership positively affects Employee Job Satisfaction 358 000 Supported H4: Pay positively affects Employee Job Satisfaction 280 000 Supported H5:There is a positive relationship between Job Satisfaction and Employee Commitment 749 000 Supported Bui N B Khue & Ho N Quang Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 112-128 123 Training 099* Working Environment 328** Job Satisfaction 358** Employee 749** Commitment Leadership 280** * Pay Figure Testing Results of Structural Model by Using SEM-AMOS Note: * p